Duty After School / CJ ENM Photo
Produced by CJ ENM’s production subsidiary Studio Dragon, Duty After School, was invited to Series Mania 2023 to take part in “Special Screening” section, to have its first world premiere.
World audiences love South Korean stories. The screening of the first and second episodes of the series was held at one of the biggest theaters in Lillle, UGC Cine-Cite, from 20:30 to 23:05 on the March 20th, Monday.
Before the screening, Carlo Fasino, the programming manager of Series Mania shared the excitement on the screening, saying “In the Special Screenings section, we present a selection of high-profile, innovative drama series, usually French premieres if not World premieres. We often feature genre series in this section, completing the Series Mania program with exciting evening screenings, offering our French and international audiences an unforgettable, tremendously exciting viewing experience. Duty After School is one of the most eagerly awaited Korean outputs this year.”
(Jin-sun Song, the Chief Producer of ‘Duty After School’, Series Mania 2023)
At the interview section previously held before the screening, Jin-sun Song, the Chief Producer of Duty After School shared her stories behind producing the series. Song mainly discussed about the casting, the adaptation process of web-toon to K-drama and the struggles behind mixing the genres in the right formula.
Song shared, “I think the uniqueness of Duty After school is that it is not the typical type of teen K-drama. The original story itself is the mixture of many genres- mystery, military and sci-fi- which gave me a big motif to adapt it into drama series. For the adaptation I’ve put a lot of effort to visually articulate the extraterritorial threats, in a way to highlight the twist in high school student’s ordinary everyday lives.”
After the screening was successfully over, when asking the audiences what they thought about the series, they expressed “The story was so charming and the imagery of the drama was wonderful,” “It was nice to see how the students were overcoming the threat of foreign creatures’ attacks, and how they grow as humans,” and “The series was so interesting, with so many points to smile on, be scared and cry upon.”
(‘Duty After School’ Special Screening section, Series Mania 2023)
On the success of the screening, Fasino added, “The series has struck a chord with the audience attending its premiere screening thanks to the refreshing take on high-school experiences. Where else would we find out how teenagers would react against an alien invasion, knowing they were humanity’s last hope – while they are also coming to terms with their future position in society.”
Sebastian Kim, the Director of CJ ENM International Content Sales & Acquisitions also stated, “As Duty After School successfully fascinated audiences at Series Mania, I can say for sure that the series will charm the drama fans all around the world. I think the special screening was a proof that Korean dramas are more than ready to welcome the global audiences.”
Meanwhile, Duty After School will be available to stream on CJ ENM-launched online streaming platform TVING in South Korea, starting March 31st.
